Brussels, 28/11/2002 (Agence Europe) - The group of experts in financial analysis, responsible for preparing recommendations on the regulatory framework necessary in the financial analysis sector, met for the first time this week. Created at the request of ministers of economy and finance at their informal meeting of Oviedo in April, the group is made up of some twenty experts. They elected Ian Mackintosh as president and Bernard Coupez as vice-president.
The group will have six months in which to submit conclusions to the Commission on the role of investment studies and the respective interests of the different interested parties, such as bond issuers, investment banks, brokers and investors. The experts will have to answer the following questions: 1) how best to manage conflicts of interest for ensure the objectivity of analysts?; 2) how are investments studies paid for and by whom?; 3) what role can codes of best practice and regulation play in investor protection? "Since last year, a broad debate has been engaged on the objectivity of analysts who undertake studies in large investment banks", recalled Commissioner Frits Bokestein, referring, notably, to recent cases in the United States. The group "will advise the Commission on the best way to guarantee a high level of integrity and objectivity of analysts, so that investors throughout Europe benefit from quality studies", he added.